Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
by HeartlandLB
Summary: This one shot takes place after episode 908. When Ty returns home from his conference.


With Ty graduated from vet school now, and a full fledge partner at the clinic with Scott, he had an obligation to attend a conference or two thru out the year. This one had been interesting, but after 3 long days of back to back sessions Ty's mind had wondered to other things. He was tried and anxious to get home. He had several hours of travel before he would get to see his new wife, Amy. They had not been apart since they were married several months ago and he missed her terribly. He still had to pinch himself every time he thought about the fact that they were married now and had started their new life together. No more worrying about Jack, Amy's grandfather, warning Ty like when he first arrived at Heartland to keep 10 feet away from his granddaughters at all times or any part of him that crossed that line would be removed.

As his mind drifted he could imaging Amy working with a horse in the round pen trying to get the animal to join up which was magical to watch. He could see her blonde hair blowing in the wind and hear her soft voice as she spoke to the horse. Ty was brought back to reality when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and read the text from Amy. " _Wishing you were here. Missing you so much. Can't wait to have you home, love you."_ He smiled as he read her message and responded back _, "Missing you more. Will be home soon, love you."_

Ty decided it was time to leave. His mind was not focused on the topic being discussed and he desperately wanted to be home with Amy securely in his arms. He quietly got up from his seat and walked to the nearest exit to begin the long journey. Once outside he hailed a cab and headed to the airport hoping he would be able to catch an early flight and surprise his new wife. The ride took longer than expected due to the heavy traffic at that time of day. Upon arriving Ty jumped out of the cab, threw the driver some cash and headed to the ticket counter only to find a long line of passengers to check in. He waited impatiently to speak with an agent about changing his flight. When he finally made it to the counter, he didn't receive good news. It seemed the early flight was completely booked. So, with nothing to do but wait for his original flight, he went thru security and found a restaurant where he could grab dinner and watch a little sports until time to board the plane. Just after he got his food, his phone vibrated again, it was a text from the airline alerting him that his flight was going to be delayed by an hour. Ty sighed and decided he should text Amy to tell her not to come to the airport as it was going to be really late when he arrived. Instead he would catch a cab home.

After finishing his food and watching TV for a while, Ty decided to walk around before getting on the plane and sitting for several hours. He happened to come across a gift shop and strolled inside to kill some time. As he was passing a displace case, a neckless caught his eye. It was a simple charm made of sterling silver with a horseshoe that had several small stones around it and a heart in the middle. Ty asked the clerk if he could see it. It was beautiful and he could picture it around Amy's neck. So he told the clerk he would take it and ask if she could wrap it for him. She explained that they did not have wrapping paper, but found a small sliver box to put it in and placed a bright red bow on top. Ty could hardly wait to get home and give Amy the gift.

Finally it was time to board the plane for the long flight back to Calgary. Then he would have an hour's ride in the cab before he would be back at Heartland. That would make the local time shortly after 2AM and Amy would be sleeping. Ty didn't care as long as he would be able to crawl into bed and sleep next to his wife for the first time in days. He had missed curling up next to her, wrapping his arm around her and felling her hair tickle his nose as he nuzzled his face into her neck. It was a good thing he didn't have to be at the clinic in the morning as he was looking forward to spending some quality time with his wife.

At Heartland, Amy had managed to keep herself busy during the days with client horses and helping Georgie with her trick riding. However the nights had been a different story. The loft felt so empty and lonely without Ty, not to mention a little scary sometimes being there all by herself. She was looking forward to picking him up at the airport and catching up on the way back to the ranch.

Just as she was headed up to the loft to change into something nice before leaving for the airport, her phone alerted her to a message. " _Amy, my flight was delayed by an hour. Will be late getting in, so will catch a cab back to Heartland. Love you." Amy was dejected, but s_ he was tried tonight. She hadn't slept very well the past few nights with Ty being gone. She missed snuggling up to his warm body and falling asleep listing to the rhythm of his heart beat while she rested her head on his chest. Yet she wanted to stay up and wait for him to get home. So she decided to take a nice warm bath, put on her sweats and curled up on the couch with a cup of her favorite tea and a book. As Amy settled herself, Remi sprawled out on the floor enjoying the fact that Amy had let her sleep up in the loft the past couple of nights to keep her company.

The plane ride was wearisome and Ty was struggling to stay awake. If his legs were not so cramped he probably would have fallen asleep. Setting in a plane for several hours was not comfortable as there was no room to stretch out. His mind wondered to the small box tucked in his coat pocket. He was so excited about his gift for Amy. He had not brought her many over there years together because money was tight while he was in school. Now that he had a full time job at the vet clinic he could be a little extravagant with his new wife and buy her a gift. Amy really didn't wear much jewelry, but this neckless was special with the horseshoe & the heart. It was symbolic of the Heartland ranch, where they had met all those years ago, and the love that had grown from a friendship that had taken both of them to better places in their lives, and untimely brought them together as husband and wife.

Ty was so thankful that he had found his way to Heartland, although by no means of his own. He didn't know it at that point in his life what Heartland and the Bartlet-Fleming family would come to mean to him. His life would have been so different and he probably would have ended up in jail if not for Marion Fleming who saw the good in him. He never met her, but he owed his life to her, and her daughter. The plane finally landed in Calgary and Ty rushed to the baggage claim area to retrieve his suitcase only to dash to the curb expecting to hail a cab. Unfortunately Ty hadn't given it much thought as to how late it would be when he arrived and there were none to be seen. So there he stood, and hour away from home with no way to get there. He had nearly given up hope of finding a ride, when a car pulled up and an older gentleman rolled down his window.

"Are you Ty Borden?"

"Yes."

"Sorry I'm late. I'm here to take you to Heartland".

Seeing Ty's puzzled expression, the gentleman smiled and explained that his wife had made the arrangements. Ty was never so happy as he was at that movement. The gentleman put his bag in the trunk, opened the door and Ty slid into the seat ready to relax on the hour's ride home.

Back at the ranch, Amy was losing her battle to stay awake waiting for Ty. So she slowing gave in to the tiredness and closed her eyes thinking she would just take a short nap and wake up in time to greet Ty when he arrived.

It was a little after 2AM when the car pulled into Heartland and Ty was so happy to be ome at this point. He got out of the car, thanked the driver with a generous tip, retrieved his bag and headed into the barn. He bounded up the stairs only to come to a halt at the top seeing the scene before him. There lying on the couch sleeping peacefully was his beautiful wife with Remi lying on the floor keeping watch. He just stared for a while at how cute Amy was when she slept. After a few minutes he could not stand it any longer. Even though he hated to wake her, Ty went over and bent down to place a soft kiss on her cheek. Slowly her eyes blinked a few times before she was staring into those bright green eyes she knew so well. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Ty's neck before planting a big kiss on his lips.

Ty smiled as he melted into her arms. It felt so good to have her body next to his and breathe in her scent. After a movement he leaned back to look down at her.

"Hello my wife. Are you happy to see me?" She looked up at him with those big blue eyes and smiled in response. He kissed her softly once more and then sat down alongside wrapping her in his arms. They stayed there for a while just enjoying being together again. Then Ty reached into his pocket and brought out the silver box with the red bow. He handed it to Amy with a smile.

"A little something for my bride".

She looked at him with questioning eyes, and he encouraged her to open it.

Amy removed the bow and slid the cover open to revel the neckless. She was speechless. It was stunning and she loved it. She carefully remove it from the box and ask Ty to help put it on. Then jumped off the couch headed to the bathroom so she could look at it in the mirror. Ty trailed after and watch as her face lit up.

"It's beautiful Ty".

He wrapped his arms around her and told her nothing compared to how beautiful she was. Amy blushed, turning in his arms and asking "have I told you how much I love you?"

Ty smiled, responding "Not lately."

Amy flashed Ty the smile she saves just for him, the one he can never say no to. She gently took his hand and led him towards the bedroom. Once there Ty drew her close, kissing her passionately and completely forgot how tried he was.


End file.
